The cheetah is one of Africa’s most vulnerable big cats.
Historically, they roamed vast grasslands and hunted antelope across open country.
Cheetah Conservation
Renowned for their remarkable speed, cheetahs are the fastest land mammals on our planet, capable of reaching sprinting speeds of up to around 110 km/h in short bursts. Their incredible acceleration and agility make them formidable hunters, able to chase down prey with precision in open grasslands. Cheetahs face numerous threats primarily due to human activities. Habitat loss, driven by agricultural expansion and urbanization, has severely fragmented their natural ranges. Additionally, human-wildlife conflict, often stemming from retaliatory killings by farmers protecting livestock, further jeopardizes their survival. The illegal pet trade also poses a significant threat, with cheetah cubs being captured and sold, often leading to high mortality rates. As a result of these pressures, the global population of cheetahs has declined sharply, with around 7,000 adults remaining in the wild. Conservation efforts are critical to support the long-term future of this iconic species.
Kishindo Cheetah Wild Project
Kishindo is committed to cheetah conservation. In 2013, we reintroduced cheetah to the Free State, where they had been absent for more than a century. Our Cheetah Wild project supports the wider cheetah metapopulation approach through collaboration with the Endangered Wildlife Trust and The Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative, contributing to practical cheetah conservation across secure, managed landscapes.
The Cheetah Metapopulation Project
The Cheetah Metapopulation Project is coordinated by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), a South African non-profit conservation organisation established in 1973. The project manages cheetah across a network of fenced reserves as a single, connected population. In practice, this means coordinated planning, monitoring, and carefully managed movements between reserves to support healthy population structure and long-term genetic viability.
Because these protected areas hold only small numbers of cheetah, this approach helps maintain stable, well-managed populations within secure landscapes, while expanding the resident range of cheetah across southern Africa through conservation-led placements and translocations. In recent years, this coordinated work has also supported broader range-expansion efforts, including cross-border conservation moves within Africa.
Kishindo’s Contribution
As part of this broader work, Kishindo has contributed to cheetah conservation through on-the-ground experience and collaboration. The reserve has bred and relocated thirteen young cheetahs to selected, managed reserves, supporting wider cheetah conservation efforts and strengthening practical understanding of cheetah behaviour, breeding, and landscape use within protected systems.
This work reflects Kishindo’s focus on indigenous species conservation that is realistic, guided, and grounded in long-term responsibility.
Expanding the Landscape
Kishindo’s long-term dream is to expand the protected landscape, creating more space for indigenous African wildlife and the ecological processes that sustain them. A larger, connected reserve strengthens habitat diversity and supports healthy predator–prey dynamics over time.
For cheetah particularly, more land matters. Space supports natural movement, hunting opportunity, and the freedom that wide-ranging predators require. This vision is approached with care and long-term intent, guided by what the landscape can sustain.
A Growing Knowledge Base
Working with cheetah contributes to Kishindo’s growing understanding of predator behaviour, responsible wildlife management, and ethics-led decision-making within protected landscapes. This learning shapes how the reserve evolves over time, guided by observation, consistency, and practical experience.
Cheetah Tracking and Observations
Cheetah tracking at Kishindo is a calm, field-based experience shaped by space, patience, and quiet observation. Accompanied by experienced guides, guests may spend time following cheetah movement across open country, with careful positioning and clear guiding throughout.
The focus is time spent watching — allowing behaviour to unfold naturally and revealing the subtle moments that only patience makes visible. Each tracking session becomes an opportunity to observe movement, decision-making, and interaction within a wide, wild landscape, creating a rare experience rooted in respect and presence.
Wild cheetah tracking at Kishindo is guided by strict welfare protocols. Viewing is done at a respectful distance (typically 5–10 metres, depending on conditions), and no physical contact is permitted. Mother and cub viewing is carefully managed, and den areas are fully protected, with no access for any person or vehicle.
”People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure.”
- Sir David Attenborough
